6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Dave I still have the 2 fixture all I need is 4 lights and what type of lights should I get? I am going to say Daylight not sure.

You ask how many plants right around 36 plants:
24 Tomato Plants
6 Melon Plants
6 Ground Cherries

Do you really need a heating mat? It is 66 in the basement.
I want to be realistic about all of this.

Yes I have read what you and all the rest have said and it gives allot of very good information and I really want to do this in the less amount of cost and still have a system that I can use year after year without putting more cost into it. One thing for sure I will be buying seed each year. An I am leaning towards Heirloom Seeds on the most part. I will try different seeds each year if I don't like what I have the previous year.

One thing that I have never tryed to start from seed is onions, I feel that that is a whole new ball game there.

How old are the fixtures? Older fixtures are probably T12 fixtures as T8 fixtures and bulbs are relatively new. If they are T12s then the new T8 bulbs won't work in them without re-wiring the ballast in them. So you will need to buy T12 bulbs for your old fixtures or but new T8 fixtures.

T12s were used for decades with no problems so that would be the cheapest route to go. But the bulbs are being phased out so will soon be difficult to find.

As to the heating mat I think we have all answered that one definitively. They are worth the expense for most of us. Do you have to have one? No. Is it worth it to have one? Yes.

If you have to choose between buying a heat mat and buying lights then buy lights. Those are a must. They are the most important.

For those few plants you can use most any recycled plastic container to germinate them in. You don't need any kit. You can easily germinate 24 tomato plants in a couple of yogurt containers or margarine tub or even plastic solo cups with holes in the bottom. Then transplant them to the NK pot pack you bought. Same for the ground cherries and melons.

I don't know why you need to buy seeds each year? Most don't. if you don't use them all in the pack seeds are good for many years when stored properly.

Dave

They are a little leggy and the fact that they are all leaning in one direction implies they need a bit more light directly above them.

Agree with all the above. Not enough light and lights not nearly close enough.

Dave

So, aside from determining whose expertise should be held in higher regard, what can I take away from this thread? If you DO have cobweb-like stuff growing on top of soil, improve air circulation and reduce moisture. If you want to take extra precautions and you've got some cinnamon in your spice rack, go ahead and sprinkle a little on, it won't hurt. Is that about the gist of it?

What you can take away is If you DO have cobweb-like stuff growing on top of soil, improve air circulation and reduce moisture.

The cobweb mold is not the same thing as damp-off fungi. While both should be and can be easily avoided and while the effects may end up being the same - death of the plant - they have different causal agents.

As to cinnamon - there is no scientific proof it helps and there are studies that show it does not. But there are anecdotal claims that it 'may'. So it falls into the can't hurt class of treatments. IMO if it helps it is a result of the surface drying caused by the cinnamon absorbing the surface soil moisture. The same thing can be accomplished with vermiculite, perlite, sand, and even talcum powder. Or you can just not over-water to begin with. :)

Dave

Hi,
Check carefully and see if you have any mold growing.
If you have I usually try to skim the mold off with a plastic spoon being careful not to damage the seedlings.
I don't attempt to get all the mold off, just what can be had easily. I hope this helps.
Some people spray the 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide solution to cure dampening off, but i would not consider that organic gardening and could affect your spiritual aura.

There is no cure for damping off once a plant has become infected with the pathogen. Purge all the infected plants and place them in a trashbag. DO NOT throw them in your compost pile. While you pruge the infected plants, DO NOT touch any healthy plants. This will spread the pathogen. Sanatize any tools you use around the new plants, and really clean your hands well after handling the infected plants. Once you have that done, having a clean, healthy environment for the healthy seedlings will help keep damping off at bay. Stable temp around 70* or so, good airflow over top of soil with a fan or two, monitor your watering so you do not over water. All is not lost, but it is very important that nothing that has touched the infected plants touches the healthy ones.

I can think of using tomatoes and peppers seeds that need to be planted in pots; about 6 weeks before planting them outside. I had planted these in pots and then directly in garden as well. They grow better & faster in the garden as compared to pots.

I think I've always started too early. I don't do vegetables. I count on my brother for those. I do some annuals and mostly perennials. This year I promised myself I would NOT start until March 21. I'm doing a little experiment this year. I ordered plug trays this year rather than using the larger Jiffy starter trays. We use plugs at the University I attend, and I have found the root system to be much more vigerous in the plugs. It will mean transplanting to larger pots rather than putting them right in the ground, but oh well. Also, anything that is a late starter can go into the greenhouse for a few more weeks before going into the beds.

A cuke sprout... and poppies... I am so thrilled. I moved the plants out of my window and set up a VERY makeshift grow light. I hung an old 40W tube light over them and put a small heater by the seeds. I surrounded the group of planted egg cartons with plastic boxes (toolboxes mostly) to trap some of the heat. I have been checking the thermometer about every hour and it is keeping at a nice 80 degrees. I hate... HATE spending money on stuff that doesn't work... but if this works I plan to make the real deal for next year. Will post a photo later.

This post was edited by TyWalsworth on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 16:56

how deep do roots grow before setting out?

I have all three of those out in my Z5b garden (northern IN) already. They sprout when they are good and ready, but can take the cold just fine. Even once it is up, all three take a freeze in my garden without trouble. I've had uncovered leaf lettuce go through five hard freezes last spring. The only trick is you cant harvest while it is frozen or it will be mush, but if you let it warm back up under the sun of the midday and harvest after it has defrosted on the plant, it bounces right back (or my varieties do at least).

emcd124-you have plants out already? I'm in Danville, IL and I really really want to start earlier than May. Do you have any tips?

FOLLOW UP: Hey all thank you so much for all the input! I planted 24 pans of seeds on Sunday afternoon and placed them inside one of my greenhouses but decided I would watch them closely and not put on lids making sure soil was good and moist also no lights on just yet. Door is zipped closed and min/max thermometer is reading 69 degrees. Tues morn I planted 5 more pans. Much to my shock and delight Weds morn I awoke to GERMINATION!!! Cosmos and Zinnias have sprouted as a matter of fact 7 pans had little seeds poking up:) I turned on the lights and they are set for 16 hrs. After 1 hr of lights being on I checked the thermometer and was shocked to see it had risen to 74 degrees.Yikes!! Open the door!! Now that the door is open it is maintaining 73 degrees (awesome) By last night there were 14 pans germinating!! This morning there are 21 pans now in germination. I am so excited to see these little gems. Now onto the next challenge of not over watering and adjusting the light as needed. Looks like I will be transplanting in a couple weeks if things keep going as well as they are. Again thank you all for your valuable input!! One very happy gardener here:)

Glad to hear! :) Part of it all is experimentation. I can't make my basement that hot, so it helps me, but it sounds like you have the perfect setup!

thank you very much for the reply. i usually start watering the plant around this time after it has remained in storage ie room temp without any water. i dont bother to remove the dried flowers when dries up for a while to re sow the pot. the plant does go outside when the wheather is warm enough to get full sun up until september or october. i usally get the fiery bush variety but i did see 2 small combs twice.

is there any trick to producing the combs? i do pinch off dried segment to get it to regrow the usual appearance. i'll often get around 10 full grown plants and 5-6 reblooms after the initlal blooming. i dont really bother stealing the seedling for seperate pots BC i have enough different plant species alive at any point of the year.

i live in montreal where the temp isnt perfect year round but the plant stays inside when its too cold.

I live south of you and have celosia seeds germinate all over my garden every year, all different kinds. I pull up the ones that are in the way or too weak and not nice looking. I have some red feather ones that reach over 6 feet tall (which I got originally from street planterbox seeds I took in Cooperstown, NY ten years ago!)

Some of the plants need to be staked to keep them from falling over. If you have to grow them in pots, maybe you can rig up some kind of cage or trellis to tie them to. The brain shaped celosia just naturally bend over sometimes. I don't grow them.

Thanks guys! I was surprised to get so many responses in such a short time. My science teacher shall be quite pleased.

I have a grow light set-up but I don't use "grow lights." They're expensive. I use full spectrum fluorescent light tubes. I am fully satisfied with them when they are 1" away from the seedlings.

The light set-up I have is from Park Seed Company. It has two levels and 4 trays on each level, with a shop light on each level.This wasn't enough light so I added two more shop light fixtures, one on each level.

Best feature is adjustable chains on the lights which I can lower and raise. I am very satisfied with this set-up and have been using it for over 20 years.

I use a loose soiless mix and plant my lobelia seeds fairly thickly. I thansplant when they have true 2nd true leaves. I keep a margarine container on hand filled with warm water. I plant 3 to 5 plants to a 2 inch square -6 pack. I soak the container I've grown them in so the soil is wet. A plant separates from wet soil easier than dry soil. If the plants separate easily they go in with what soil they have on the roots. If they don't separate easily instead of tearing the roots I swish the roots of a clump of them in the margarine container of water washing off some of the soil and saturating the roots and they usually separate quite well then I poke a hole in the new soil for the roots and cover them in. I lose very few plants this way.

I grow them thickly in cell packs, tear them into clumps, and plant them directly into flower boxes as edging plants when all frost is gone. I don't bother with transplanting into bigger containers before planting out.

I can second the winter sowing idea. I often have volunteers come up in my south flower bed especially if they are in a protected area near the house.

They are fairly easy to grow if you don't overwater but they do take a while to come up and don't grow very fast at first

Hi,
I have started snapdragons indoors and painfully transplanted them outdoors and baby them all along the way. But late spring I went to look for something at Lowes and accidentally found they were practically giving good looking snapdragons away for sale cheap.
I could of kicked myself because I only have so much space indoors for seedlings.
I also got my snapdragon seeds from a dollar store that had three different colors available & was happy with the results. I hope they will reseed because if not I'll need a ride to Lowes :)